Image-guided surgery, also known as image-guided intervention, enhances a physician's ability to locate instruments within anatomy during a medical procedure. Image-guided surgery can include 2-dimensional (2D), 3-dimensional (3D), and 4-dimensional (4D) applications. The fourth dimension of image-guided surgery can include multiple parameters either individually or together such as time, motion, electrical signals, pressure, airflow, blood flow, respiration, heartbeat, and other patient measured parameters.
Practitioners often use 3D medical imaging (e.g., CT, MRI) methods to assess a patient's anatomy and for use during treatment (e.g., during image-guided surgery). In order to access a target area (such as a node, nodule, tumor, or other target), the practitioner must navigate through the patient's anatomy to the target area. As disclosed and described in U.S. Ser. Nos. 13/817,730 and 15/290,822, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference, the medical images are segmented (e.g., to locate boundaries and objects within the images) to provide non-invasive information for use during a procedure, including but not limited to navigating to the target area, determining the best anatomical path to reach the target area, and localizing the medical instrument within the anatomy.
Although significant improvements have been made in these fields, a need remains for improved medical devices and procedures, including improved segmentation and image processing, for visualizing, accessing, locating, real-time confirming, sampling, and manipulating a target tissue or area.